painter



2 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

J. L. P-AYN-TER.

Straw Cutter.

No. 236,618. Patented lan. 11,1881

N-PETERS, F'KOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. D.

. UNITED STATES PATENT Omen.

JACOB L. PAYNTER, OF SALEM, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ELKANA CRAYGRAFT, OF SAME PLACE.

STRAW-CUTTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,618, dated. January 11, 1881.

Application filed J nne 1, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known 'that I, JACOB L. PAYNTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salem, in the county of Washington and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Straw-Gutters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this specification of said improvement, in which drawings- Figure l is a front elevation of my improved straw-cutter, the hand-lever which carries the upper cutting-blade being elevated to the limit of its upward throw preparatory to its depression to effect a cut, and with the several articulating parts adjusted in such relation as to utilize that half of the length of the upper and lower cutting-blades which is nearest to the operator duriu g the act of cutting straw, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with a portion of the cutter-box broken 011'. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the strawcutter with the hand-lever elevated as in Fig. 1, but with the several articulating parts adjusted so as to bring into action portions of the cutting-blades not utilized during the act of cutting straw, as signified in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a front elevation with the articulating parts adjusted as in Fig. 1, but showing the relation of said parts at the completion of a cut. Fig. 5 is a front elevation with the articulating parts adjusted as in Fig. 3, but showing the relation of said parts at the completion of a'cut.

The object of my invention is the production of a straw-cutter which shall have its articulating parts capable of such an adjustment that when one portion of the cutting-blades becomes dull from use new or unused portions of the blades may be brought into action by a readjustment of said parts, but without changing the fixed position of the cuttingblades upon the parts to which they are attached.

Another object is to so combine the movable or operating parts of the straw-cutter that, while the upper cutting-blade is effecting its out with a downwardly-drawing out, the lower (No model.)

cutting-blade will effect its out by an upward oblique thrust movement across the straw.

In the several figures,A indicates the front base-piece of the machine, to which, posts, as at I) b, are attachedin a suitable manner, and stayed with a cross-beam, b upon which the bottom b of the delivery end of the cutter-box B rests, the side pieces, I), of said box being secured to the posts b b, as indicated. Posts, as at b I), also extend upwardly from the base-piece A, and are respectively connected to the main posts b b by crossbeams, as at b b, said base-piece, posts, and cross-beams constituting a front frame for the support of the front end of the cutter-box and its operating parts, while the rear portion of the cutter-box (not shown in the figures) may be supported either as usual upon a rectangular frame or in any other suitable manner.

Having reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 4, O indicates the hand-lever of the machine, the handle c of which is grasped by the operator during the act of cutting straw. This hand-lever is supplied, in a suitable manner, with asingle cutting-blade, D, having two lengths of cutting-edge, d and d, extending equally to the right and left of its central point, 00, each cutting-edge being of curved form, as shown, in order to effect a drawing out upon the straw.

E indicates an extension of the post I), and

against the face 0 of this extension the inner surface of the hand-lever works during its up and down movements, said lever working between the eXtension-piece E and a metal guide,

F, which has its upper end secured on top of the extension E, and its lower end held in position by a screw-bolt, f, which screws into the post I).

The rear end of the hand-lever U is pivot-- ally connected to the post I), as indicated at g, this end of the hand-lever being provided with perforations, as shown, so that the lever may be adjusted forward, as in Fig. 3, when its knife-edge portion d is to be brought into action.

G is a cutter-bar carrying a lower straightedged cutting-blade, D. This bar is arranged to have its inner surface work against the outer front surface of the posts I) I), but in rear of the hand-lever O and its cutting-blade D, the cutter-bar and hand-lever, with their cuttingblades, being so contiguous that the cuttingedges of both blades will come in shearing contact during the act of cutting straw. The cutter-bar G is ofirregular longitudinal formation, as represented in the figures, its end por tion, it, to which the blade D is applied, its central portion, h, and its rear portion, 702, all being at different angles with reference to the base-support A, as shown. The end of the rear portion, 7L2, of the cutter-bar G is pivotally connected, as at f, to a swinging bar, H, which is pivoted to the post b at f and to this bar H a connecting-bar, H, has its lower end pivoted, as atf and its upper end pivoted, as at f to the hand-lever G. A staybar, as at I, connects the posts 1) b the bolt, as at f, passing through one end of the bar I, as well as the lower end of the guide F, and the bolt, as at f passing through the opposite end of the bar I, as well as loosely through the swinging bar H, and into the post b The cutter-bar G is held in position between the post b and a metal guide-piece, 2', the upper end of the guide-piece overlapping a portion of cutter-bar, as shown. The lower edge of the central portion, h, of this bar is supported by and travels upon a roller, 1), confined between the guide-piece t and post I) by a screwbolt, which passes through said guide-piece and roller and into the post I), as indicated. The lower end of the piece z' is held in place by the boltf, which passes through one end ofthecross-bar I and the lowerend of the guide F and into the post I). The oblique termination at e of the face portion e of the extension-piece E of the post 1) serves as a guide for the upper edge of the portion h of the cutter-bar Gr during the movements of the bar G.

It will be seen that the rear portion, h of the cutter-bar G is provided with perforations or bolt-holes, as at a a so that when desired the cutter-bar G may be adjusted rearwardly also, that the upper portion of the connecting-bar H has like holes, as at a a and 8, whereby it may be properly pivotally adjusted to the hand-lever O centrally of the length of the hand-lever at a when the hand-lever G is adjusted forward from its position shown in Fig. 1 to its position shown in Fig. 3; also, that the hand -lever O is provided with one perforation or bolt-hole, as at a about centrally of the length of the lever, and with other perforations, as at M, at the rear end of said hand-lever. Thus, when it is desired to utilize the cutting-edge 61 of the upper blade, D, in conjunction with the lower blade, D, the several parts O, G, H, and H may be adjusted together for action, as signified in Fig. 1; and that when it is desired to utilize the cutting-edge d of the upper blade, D, in conjunction with the lower blade, D, the several parts 0, G, H, and H may be adjusted together for action, either as signified in Fig. 3, with the bar H pivotally connected at f with the rear end of the hand-lever O, or with the bar H adjusted to the hole a at a point centrally of the length of the hand-lever O, in which latter case the bolt f would pass through the hole 8 of bar H and through hole a of the hand-lever G. In this manner it will be seen that when one portion ofthe blades becomes dull from use, new or undulled portions (more or less) of the blades D and D may be brought into action, thus avoiding-the necessity of removing and grinding the blades so frequently, as is the case where but one given length of cutting-edge of the blades is used to out the straw.

In the operation of the machine, the downward throw of the hand-lever 0 reaches its limit by the lever striking upon the bent or shouldered portion t of the guide F, and the upward throw of the hand-lever is limited by the lever striking against the part t of said guide. The downward stroke of the hand-lever 0 causes the bar H to force the bar H from its position shown in Fig. 1 to its position shown in Fig. 4., and thereby force the cutterbar G bodily forward from its position shown in Fig. 1 to its position shown in Fig. 4, the movement of its cutter-blade D being obliquely to the straw delivered to its action, as well as with an upward thrust against the straw, and this simultaneous with the downward-drawing cut of the upper blade, D. In this manner the straw is cut with great facility.

I claim 1. In a straw-cutter, the combination of a hand-lever provided with an upper cuttingblade, a cutter-bar provided with a lower cutting-blade, a connecting-bar, H, and a swinging bar, H. whereby said parts are capable of such an adjustment that when one portion of the cutting-blades becomes dull new or unused cutting-edges of the blades may be brought into action without changing the fixed position of the blades upon the parts to which they are attached, substantially as described.

2. In a straw-cutter, the combination of the upper cutting-blade, D, with the lower cut ting-blade,- D, cutter-bar Gr, swinging bar H, and connecting-bar H, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JACOB L. PAYNTER.

Witnesses:

FRED L. PROW, ELKANA CRAYORAFT. 

